Speaker's $15,000 Holiday Trip Was A Sacrifice

The Public Affairs Director of Parliament Jones Kugblenu, has reacted to last Monday’s Network Herald publication on the “foreign/medical vacation” of Right Honourable Peter Ala Adjetey, Speaker of the Legislature, with a further provision that the Speaker made lots of sacrifices in his over 140 million cedis trip to Dublin, Republic of Ireland.

Mr. Kugblenu informed the paper that “he (Speaker) made a sacrifice by going alone.”

He said ordinarily, Mr. Ala-Adjetey should have gone with his wife or personal Secretary and bodyguard but he decided to go alone looking at the cost involved and the fact that he wanted to be alone. “He works hard even when Parliament is not sitting, you always see him here attending to other parliamentary duties so he deserves it.” “I went to see him off at the airport and his last words to me were, why are you leaving me to go and suffer in the cold alone.”

According to him the Speaker is the first officer of parliament and by all standard is entitled to a leave like any other person who occupies such a high position as happens to the judges of the High Court. He said since the Speaker assumed office in January 2001, he’s never gone on vacation so, recently during a discussion, he expressed the need to have a rest to come back for the third session fully positioned to start the business of the house. He also proffered that Mr. Speaker employed “all the laid down procedures” by first writing formally to the President through the office of the Chief of Staff for permission to travel outside the country and also to request for a paid up vacation.

According to the Public Affairs Director of Parliament, it was only after some really thorough discussions with the Chief of Staff Mr. Kwadwo Mpiani and some members of the Office of the President, that it was realized that the office didn’t have the mandate to approve his request since they’re different organs of government and would not have anything to do with accusations of interfering with the legislature. He said after the Chief of Staff made his position clear on the matter, the speaker quickly wrote to the Parliamentary Service Board of which he is the Chairman for approval. They also refused approval on the grounds that he was not an employee of Parliament based on the Parliamentary Service Board Act 64, Clause 1 (2).

Mr. Kugblenu said the Board then referred the matter to the leadership of the house (majority and the minority) for consideration and subsequent approval of the leave for the speaker. “And because it involves foreign exchange, what he did again was to apply to the Ministry of Finance, who is the exchequer, through the Clerk of Parliament for his per diem.

He added however, that the figure was not determined by the Speaker but as a matter of principle, once approval is given for one to go on leave and to travel outside this country, the person is entitled to a per diem. “It is therefore not unconstitutional for him to go on a leave.”

He told the Network Herald that during the era of his (Speaker’s) predecessor, Mr. Justice D F Annan was allowed to enjoy such facilities, which included regular medical check-ups fully paid for, by the state. Also as a prominent lawyer, the speaker is fully aware of his duties and responsibilities and wouldn’t do anything awkward to bring his image and that of his high office into disrepute. But Minority leader Alban Bagbin says he never approved of the leave for the Speaker because “I was not clear in my mind that leadership is the right body to approve of the leave of the Rt. Hon. Speaker.”

Using memorandum to support his claim, the minority leader said, “I constantly called for further discussions on the matter because as far as I’m aware, there is no precedence to guide us to approve or disapprove the request”.